Rivalry night in Park County brought a brawl to Spike Vannoy Field on Friday night in Cody, with both teams exchanging shots throughout the cool night. The No. 3-ranked Cody Broncs landed the final blow against the No. 2-ranked Powell Panthers, sealed by a late interception en route to a 22-19 scoreline.

CODY 22, POWELL 19

A home game in the opening round of the playoffs was on the line in Cody (8-1 overall, 4-1 3A West) with Powell (7-2 overall, 3-2 3A West) needing the road win to get another chance at home.

The Broncs came out at a blistering pace, using a fast offense alongside a long run to get a quick touchdown from 3 yards out, making it 7-0 with 9:30 left in the first quarter.

“They came out with a lot of emotions,” said coach Chase Kistler. “They took advantage of our defensive ends not compressing enough and their power was gashing us. Once we cleaned that up it was back and forth and our defense played just fine.”

Powell followed a drive where it controlled the tempo, using outside runs to push into Cody territory.

An 11-play drive ended with a 24-yard field goal by Jhett Schwahn and the Panthers trailed 7-3 with 6:15 left in the first.

Powell appeared to have a stop on the next drive, but a pass interference kept the drive alive for another set of downs.

Zane Graft got a sack on first down, and Powell eventually stopped the Broncs and forced a punt.

Powell was aided on a pass interference call against Cody on third down on its next drive, and a fourth-and-3 conversion helped Powell move deep into Bronc territory.

Schwahn powered his way into the end zone this drive, scoring from 5 yards out just seconds before the end of the quarter — unfortunately, the PAT was missed and Powell led 9-7 after the first.

“We were trying to get it to where we could get Trey [Stenerson] isolated a little bit,” Kistler said. “They were still doubling him, we were running the ball a lot with Jhett. I kind of want to do that but not really because we still have playoffs. We knew it was going to be a physical game.”

The first play of the second quarter was another big run up the middle, giving Cody the ball in Powell territory.

Cody eventually worked its way down to the goal line, and found itself in a second and goal at the 1 yard line.

A fumble at the goal line was recovered by Keona Wisniewski, leading to a discussion among the officials. It was determined that it was fumbled before breaking the plane, and Powell escaped with the lead.

Both teams exchanged punts, with Powell working its way down the field late in the second quarter looking to extend the lead going into the break.

Schwahn was picked off in the red zone with 1:20 left, giving Cody the ball back late.

“We went all the way down and threw the interception and that killed us,” Kistler said.

A pass interference followed by a big pass play got Cody into Powell territory, and then a 29-yard touchdown pass gave Cody a 15-9 lead following a two-point conversion with 31 seconds left.

Cody opted to squib kick following the score, and gave Powell the ball at its own 40 yard line with time to work.

Schwahn found Trey Stenerson on a deep pass to give Powell the ball deep in Cody territory, and the Panthers hustled to the line to spike the ball.

Schwahn found Wisniewski up the seam on the next play for a touchdown with five seconds left on the clock. A successful PAT gave Powell a 16-15 lead going into the break.

Coming out of the locker room, Powell took control on a long drive.

Fourteen plays over eight minutes allowed Powell to get into Cody territory, but the drive was stopped in its tracks and the Panthers settled for a 35-yard field goal to extend the lead.

“We weren’t just trying to wear them down, we were just trying to run our offense,” Kistler said. “Which we did, we controlled the clock and ran it all the way down. We only got three points out of it, should have been a touchdown.”

Cody’s next drive spanned nearly the rest of the quarter, with the Broncs opting to go for it on fourth down and scored on a 5-yard scramble to retake the lead 22-19.

A Schwahn kick gave the ball back to Cody on the next drive after Powell was unable to move the ball.

Cody lined up to go for it on fourth and 1 on its next drive, but a false start moved the ball back and the Broncs were forced to punt to give Powell the ball back midway through the fourth.

Powell converted a key third and 2 on the next drive and added on more yardage after a late hit.

Later in the drive the Panthers faced a fourth and 6 at the Cody 30 yard line, but a pass was broken up and Powell was unable to tie or take the lead.

Cody had an opportunity to ice the game and run out the clock with some first downs, but a third down throw was intercepted by Stenerson and gave Powell life with 2:31 left.

“There was a lot of time left. Two minutes is a lifetime in football,” Kistler said.

Two incompletions followed by a sack on third down put Powell in a fourth and 13 with time winding down.

Schwahn found Stenerson to convert, giving Powell one last hope near midfield. On the next play Schwahn rolled out to his left and had a receiver open on the sideline, but did not put enough air under the ball which was tipped and intercepted with a minute remaining.

“We got flushed out of the pocket, rolled left and the guy was open. We under threw him,” Kistler said. “We just needed to stay calm a little bit in that scenario and work the two minute drill. We run the two minute drill two or three times a week so we just have to trust it and make plays when we need to.”

Cody finished out the final minute after a first down, completing a dramatic 22-19 victory.

Schwahn led Powell with 211 yards passing along with 90 yards rushing on the ground, with two interceptions and two total touchdowns.

McKale Foley led Powell in tackles with 11 while Graft had 1.5 sacks.

Penalties were an issue in the game for Powell, finishing with 12 total for 117 yards while Cody had six for 45 yards.

PLAYOFF GAME FRIDAY

Powell now turns its attention to the postseason as the west’s No. 3-seed, heading on the road to east No. 2-seed Buffalo (6-2 overall, 4-1 3A East) at 6 p.m. on Friday.

“We are in the playoffs so we need a short memory,” Kistler said. “We’ve gotta have laser-like focus for Buffalo.”

If the Panthers win, they will either remain in Powell if east No. 4-seed Worland (3-5 overall, 2-3 3A East) upsets the west No. 1-seed Star Valley (8-1 overall, 5-0 3A West) or will head on the road to Star Valley next week.

Temperatures are projected to plummet later this week, with snow forecast for Thursday in Buffalo and a high in the low 30s expected for Friday.